The major goal of the Penn-CFAR Developmental Core is the promotion of AIDS and HIV-related research at the University of Pennsylvania, the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and the Wistar Institute by providing a source of funding for pilot projects. The Developmental Core will support short term (1 year) projects in emerging areas of HIV research, including new research related to the recruitment of new investigators, research by established investigators who are turning their attention to AII3S, and research by AIDS/HIV investigators who are undertaking studies that represent a significant departure from their previous work. During the past funding period, we funded a total of 18 projects ranging in scope from molecular analysis of viruses and virus proteins, through the potential development of vaccine candidates, to sociological analysis of the transmission of sexual information in some African societies. A significant proportion of these pilot projects have been converted into fully funded NIH grants. We are proposing to fund 5 projects each year in years 6-10 of this CFAR, adding a new grant category devoted exclusively to interdisciplinary and/or translational research projects.